In conventional manner, electrically programmable non-volatile memories, in particular those known as the FLASH EPROM type, are suitable for being programmed prior to being installed on and soldered to the printed circuit cards that they are designed to equip. However, that requires said memories to be handled prior to being soldered to the cards in which they are going to be used, and it is desirable to eliminate such additional handling.
Commercially-available appliances also exist that enable electrically reprogrammable non-volatile memories to be programmed when they are installed on the printed circuit cards to which they have just been fitted. However those appliances which make connections with the cards for gaining access to the memories that are to be programmed are relatively expensive.